Just heard kitchen is closed at Mary's Boon. It was a nice run for them for 6 days. Hopefully it won't take them as long to re-open as it did for Karakter's

Heard from whom???? I am really not in favor of posting rumors here... If this is not true, it is defamatory.

We have friends staying there now and the inspection was posted today by the Restaurant which concerned the food handlers permits not being current. They also did a deep kitchen power washing cleaning a few days ago from 11pm to 4am cause the noise kept our friends up. They plan on being open tomorrow. Health Dept is going through Simpson Bay this week so I am sure you will see others being closed. Its good they are checking. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the information. Knowing an inspection report was posted is much better than "hearsay".

I hope they get the situation resolved.

It was not "hearsay". I actually live next door. I was the one that posted Karakter's closed by health dept and labor. That either wasn't a "rumor".

Again I wouldn't post anything unless I was certain it was true. Maybe I worded it wrong.

Living next door adds a lot more validity than simply saying "I heard....." Yes, better wording would have made a difference.

We have no way of knowing, based on what you posted, what the source of your information was. "I heard" could be fourth hand information, which gets totally garbled in the translation.

So I suppose when you read it in the Daily Herald, you'll take it for real

Sorry, whenever I quote something from the Daily Herald, I quote it from being in the Daily Herald. That doesn't necessarily mean it's true, but it's a lot better than "I heard".

Karakter's was closed on Thursday but wasn't in the Daily Herald until 4 days later on Monday. I suppose this board would rather wait until it's posted in the DH than those of us who know as soon as it happens.

Sorry, that is not what I am saying at all. Posting that a business has been closed because of legal problems, sanitation, etc., is a very serious business. If what is posted is not true, it could be libelous. If you're going to post something very serious like that, please don't post your source as "I heard". If the DH runs a story that states such a thing, that is their responsibility for posting something, if it turns out to be erroneous. If YOU post something like that, and it is wrong, then YOU are responsible for posting something which could well be libelous.

from story: inspectors found “pest infestation, cockroaches and rats.” “There were also a lot of stray dogs walking around the restaurant with ticks and fleas. They need to control the pest infestation,” Best said.

UGH!

Well intentioned information, while original post may have had wording that could have been different, should be appreciated by all of us.
Sounds like the SXM Health Department is pretty busy. Hopefully we will all benefit from improvements made by sited establishments.

Correct and I agree. While all pertinent information is welcomed, the presentation/heading and "I heard" is not a good way to start out. The information may well be 100% accurate but citing a source or personal experience helps.

Sorry, I apologize to sxmmm1987, but I am too sensitive about these things. Here is the issue, as far as I'm concerned--"well intentioned information" that says, for example "I hear that one of the restaurants on Orient is going to reopen for business this week", is one thing. That information may or may not be true, but it cannot be deemed particularly derogatory or defamatory. Information that says "such and such restaurant has been closed by the authorities for sanitation violations", IF! that information is not true, could be defamatory. So when you post something like that, just at least give us some frame of reference, as to where the information came from.

From Mary's Boon:

"Due to circumstances beyond our control, we regret to inform you that we will not be able to open the restaurant and bar until further notice next week. Our staff wishes to convey our apologies, support and love for our clientele, and it is with great regret that we are not able to be here and serve the greatest loyal customers in the world, along with some of the greatest tourists to ever come and spend time with us here in St. Maarten.
- Mary's Boon Staff"

Those circumstances are totally controlled by the owner ..Not sure why the owner would think otherwise ....I guess good safety isn't in the owners master plan ...I hope they resolve their health and safety issues quickly and reopen for business ..

Here we go again with more opinion and assumptions than facts. We stay and Mary's Boon often and have friends there now and for sure the kitchen was clean and in compliance by Friday but not in time for the inspector to come back until Monday. The newspaper misreported the facts as this was more a proper venting and employee paperwork than a not clean issue. It is not in the owners control if they can not come back out to re inspect sooner. This is a little island in the middle of the ocean with I am sure just a few people to do the job. To be fair please note that three of the most popular restaurants on the Island have been closed by the health Dept in the past week and more will surely follow. Those 3 will now be among the cleanest! I am sure they all care about the safety of their guests very much. I guess some people just love kicking other people while they are down. Cheers! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />

There are some very mean spirited people on this forum. Everytime something negative is said about "certain" business on this island, the powers that be rise up. I do not know if the original poster was accurate or not, but to rely on the DH as your defense argument source is disingenuous. How many time over the years have the same people suggested the DH was not credible when their ox was being gored?

We have eaten at both places over the years and have never been under any illusions about the sanitation of the establishments or the island. You do not have to be a genius to figure out standards and enforcement are different than other places.

I agree with foreversxm. Fix the problem, if one exists, and move on.

As far as kicking other people when they are down, it seems to me some on this board just like kicking posters and will not stop until they get the last word.

Randy Bennett
Raleigh, NC

And that is why I made the point of posting what came from Mary's Boon and before that a link to the article that contained quotes from the Inspector General.

While the Daily Herald might not be 100% accurate, it is a source of local information and the vast majority of the content is accurate.

TTOL has no control over what the Daily Herald publishes, good bad or indifferent. When it provides information that is pertinent and actually quotes a public official, one can use it to substantiate the information.

I have eaten at both places also and at others on the island that have been closed at various times due to health and/or other inspection failures. We don't like to read negative reports about our favorite places but when there are facts to back the reports up, what do you do?

Yes, there are some people who post some very mean and hurtful things here. There are also some very sarcastic ones. I'm always surprised and very disappointed when mean comments here are not immediately removed. The thread doesn't have to be closed, just certain comments could disappear!

You know, it is VERY hard to do what we do here. We are not responsible for what people post. If we remove posts, we get flack over that and if we don't, we get flack for that too. The bottom line is that people should think about what they post, before they do.

Well said Carol.

I think we all wish they would, but unfortunately.......

All of the Administrators do a good job supporting the strength of this site - infomration about St Martin. We thank you.

You are absolutely right Carol. It is difficult to please all of the people all of the time, so don't even try. There are hurtful things being posted on all forums because people press "enter" before engaging their brains.I would say that most people here are polite, but there are always a few that are not. We all just need to ignore them and move on.Even deleting their posts does not always work. Perhaps if they received a pm from one of the administrators it might get their attention. They often do not even realize how hurtful their posts might be because they always disregard the feelings of others all the time.

It seems the Island will see a lot more of these restaurant closing. If they reported it correctly I read Saturday in the Daily Herald that the Health Dept has now closed the Caribbean Movie concession stands and also another restaurant in that same building. I guess that means movie but no popcorn for now. Point is its NOT just these first few restaurants with some violations but lot more than we probably want to know about!

Oh, heck, I should know better than to jump in here, but self restraint has never been one of my traits.

When the spokesman says "circumstances beyond our control", I question the veracity of that assertion.

I have seen a lot of places that get dinged by the health department. Usually they cop to the charges and promise to improve. I'm guessing it's really hard to stay on the right side of the health authorities all the time, but mistakes happen. Own up to it and go on, or tell us why you were a "victim", which seems to be what MB is claiming.

We stay at Mary's Boon, so I doubt we'll change our behavior any, but I do believe it's disingenuous to claim total innocence.

Fire away.

It seems that this horse has been beaten enough for now.